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TRENTON
- Attorney General Anne Milgram announced
today that New Jersey received $350,879
in a national civil Medicaid fraud settlement
negotiated with CVS/Caremark Corporation.
The
Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor participated
in a $36.7 million national settlement involving
the United States, 23 states and the District
of Columbia. The settlement resolved claims
that CVS/Caremark violated various state
and federal statutes and regulations by
switching dosage strengths and forms of
ranitidine, an antacid medication commonly
prescribed for Medicaid patients. The multi-state
settlement was the result of negotiations
with CVS/Caremark led by a coalition of
states.
The
Medicaid program is jointly funded by the
state and federal governments. The joint
federal and state share of the settlement
for the Medicaid program in New Jersey is
$717,684, of which the state received $350,879.
The $350,879 represents restitution and
civil penalties. CVS also was required to
enter into a corporate integrity agreement
with the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services to provide for monitoring of CVS/Caremark’s
business practices in the future.
“This
civil settlement returns a significant sum
to the New Jersey Medicaid program to fund
health care services and prescription drugs
for persons who otherwise might not be able
to afford them,” said Attorney General
Milgram. “We are committed to investigating
and prosecuting Medicaid fraud and other
abuses that affect the Medicaid program
in New Jersey.”
The
New Jersey Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor’s
Medicaid Fraud Control Unit routinely participates
in civil settlements involving allegations
of false claims brought on a national level.
“Every
dollar lost to fraud or abuse is one less
dollar available to help the most needy
citizens of our state,” said Insurance
Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden Brown. “The
Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor is
committed to fighting Medicaid fraud and
returning much needed dollars to this vital
program.”
Gregory
A. Paw, Director of the Division of Criminal
Justice, credited Assistant Attorney General
John Krayniak of the Medicaid Fraud Control
Unit in the Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor
for his efforts in this matter. He represented
New Jersey in negotiations involving the
coalition of states.
Attorney
General Milgram stated that New Jersey has
a new tool to combat Medicaid fraud. She
explained that on Jan. 14, Governor Corzine
signed the New Jersey False Claims Act,
which took effect on March 14 and which
contains a whistleblower provision to provide
rewards to people, often corporate insiders,
who blow the whistle on fraud.
The
State of New Jersey administers the Medicaid
program through the Division of Medical
Assistance and Health Services and through
the Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor’s
Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, which investigates
both criminal and civil Medicaid fraud and
abuse in that program.
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